[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Josephus]

I mean - he's not wrong.

I'll clarify. Trudeau is saying he believes in the International Court and what it stands for. This doesn't mean he supports South Africa's claim in that court that Israel is committing genocide.

Seemed pretty simple to me....and I don't have a PhD.

[Josephus]

But on the other hand - the polls do look bad.  Far worse than they ever have for Trudeau (other than when he first won Liberal leadership and the party was in third place).  I remember Stephen Harper going into the 2015 election - an election he was almost certain to lose3, and did - but as being quite unusual as leaders often prefer to go out as a winner, rather than be defeated.

I was thinking about this yesterday, and I've a feeling J.T. won't be leaving anytime soon. Forget about him for a moment, and think about his possible successor, Freeland or Joly, Anand, whomever.

In fact, don't think about them either. Let's pretend it's me. Let's pretend I was a high powered Liberal whom many pundits were talking about as a possible successor to J.T.  Now, ask me, why would I want to replace JT now? The key thing is...do the Liberals stand a chance of winning even without Trudeau? If the answer is "probably not" then why would I stake my career now. As a politician, of course, I am more vested in myself than the party or the nation. If I let JT take another shot, and watch him fail badly, then he would obviously be forced out of power after the election.

Now, I would take my shot. In four years, after P.P. has ruined the country, Canadians would be desperate for a change, and a new, upstart, and rather charismatic new leader may be exactly what they want then; not one tarnished by already losing an election.

[crazy canuck]

Mark Carney would immediately announce his leadership bid.

[crazy canuck]

I mean - he's not wrong.

I'll clarify. Trudeau is saying he believes in the International Court and what it stands for. This doesn't mean he supports South Africa's claim in that court that Israel is committing genocide.

Seemed pretty simple to me....and I don't have a PhD.

BB, what did you find confusing about the Liberal position.  I agree with Josephus, I thought they were just saying they have faith in the process.

[Barrister]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/one-person-arrested-after-edmonton-city-hall-evacuated-following-weapons-complaint-1.7092198

Shots fired, molotov cocktail thrown at Edmonton City Hall.

City hall is 1 block from my work - you can see it from an east window (my office is on the west side, so I get a view of police headquarters instead).

[Josephus]

Court rules Ottawa's use of Emergency Act against protesting truckers violated charter. Just keeps getting worse for JT.

[Barrister]

Court rules Ottawa's use of Emergency Act against protesting truckers violated charter. Just keeps getting worse for JT.

So I believe if you go back in this thread I was no fan of the truckers - but the Emergency Act did seem heavy handed.  Surely regular old criminal law gave police plenty of powers to deal with them...

[crazy canuck]

Court rules Ottawa's use of Emergency Act against protesting truckers violated charter. Just keeps getting worse for JT.

So I believe if you go back in this thread I was no fan of the truckers - but the Emergency Act did seem heavy handed.  Surely regular old criminal law gave police plenty of powers to deal with them...

Yep, I also commented that I thought there was a clear breach given the lack of evidence that ordinary policing powers were not sufficient to deal with the situation.

I was surprised at the time by how many Canadians just shrugged when it happened.  it seems the consensus became that since the protesters were entirely unpalatable, it didn't matter. But of course, that's exactly the circumstance in which constitutional rights matter the most.

[crazy canuck]

I am also troubled by the public statement made by our deputy Prime Minister.

"We do not agree with this decision. And respectfully we will be appealing it," Ms. Freeland said. "The public safety of Canadians was under threat, our national security, which includes our national economic security was under threat. It was a hard decision to take."


A minister of the Crown, and especially the Deputy Prime Minister, should not be publicly expressing views about a case that is before the court, which it continues to be now that she has announced that there will be an appeal.

[Grey Fox]

Court rules Ottawa's use of Emergency Act against protesting truckers violated charter. Just keeps getting worse for JT.

So I believe if you go back in this thread I was no fan of the truckers - but the Emergency Act did seem heavy handed.  Surely regular old criminal law gave police plenty of powers to deal with them...

How do you do that when the Police is on the side of the truckers?

[crazy canuck]

Big news in BC that might not reach the rest of the country, the Conservatives have recruited Ellis Ross to run as a candidate in the next election.  That immediately gives them street cred in the swing ridings of the North Central coast.

If they win the election, he will almost certainly become a cabinet minister.

[Grey Fox]

Who is he?

[crazy canuck]

It's a long answer, but I suppose the best way to summarize is that he has been a key bridge between Indigenous communities and resource companies assisting both to develop economic development models that benefit both.

I'm a bit surprised that the conservatives brought him on board because he is a major proponent of reconciliation.  But then I realized I've never heard PP say anything negative about reconciliation.

[crazy canuck]

As reported in the Globe:

"Every leader, every party has a best-before date. Our best-before date is here," Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal MP Ken McDonald told Radio Canada in an interview published Wednesday.

[Grey Fox]

Such a coward. He's right but you are a liberal in part of Canada that votes Liberal, fight!